Statistics

To Elk Mountain

To Mount Thurston

Total Distance:

14.6 km (return)

Estimated Time:

7 hours

Average Grade:

13.6%

Structure:

Linear - Return

Elevation Gain:

996 m

Start Elevation:

630 m

Max Elevation:

1626 m

Directions

From Highway #1 (Trans-Canada Highway), take exit #123 for Prest Road. Turn right (south) onto Prest Road and follow it to the second four-way stop, at the base of Promontory Ridge. Turn left on to Bailey Road and follow it to a fork, with Lindell Road continuing to the left and Elkview Road heading sharply uphill on the right.

Take the right fork, following Elkview Road as it winds it's way up the mountain to the Ryder Lake area. At the 3-way stop sign, keep going straight. After approximately 15 minutes of driving through the pleasant country, the road turns to gravel. Continue onwards, now Chilliwack Bench Forest Service Road.

A short 1km of car accessible driving leads you to a gravel parking area on the left. Park here and find the trailhead at the far end of the parking lot, next to the road.

Details

The first 3.5 km of this trail is a steady climb through forest. Eventually though you will break through the forest and get to the first lookout, which offers great views of the Fraser Valley to the west.

Continuing along the trail for another 10 minutes back into forest, and you will pop out onto the ridge itself, where in the early summer many wildflowers bloom. If you hit it right, you'll also find wild strawberries as well (around the end of June-early July).

Once on the ridge, there's some excellent views of the mountains to the south and south-east, with Mts. MacGuire, Border Peaks, and Mt. Slesse being dominant. There's also some great views of Mt. Baker as well.

The trail along the ridge rises and dips with the ridge, and eventually heads back into forest past Elk Mtn summit. From Elk summit, another 30 minutes of hiking takes you to another minor peak with a large cairn with some excellent views. This is an un-named peak, but this little peak has far better views than Mt. Thurston, which is the bushy peak that is another 30 min or so away.

The trail actually continues past Mt. Thurston, but it's condition is in somewhat worse condition due to the fact that few carry along the ridge this far from Elk. This trail eventually links up with an old forest service road and takes you to an obvious pass, where a trail then continues on to Mt. Mercer, which is the highest peak along the ridge.